It’s maybe weird to open with a stat. Even when everyone knows it should be points off turnovers. Screw it, let’s open with two almosts — two tantalizing almosts that very nearly mooted every Seattle Seahawks misstep that preceded.
Third down, final drive, you’re already at midfield, need a field goal to tie it, touchdown to win.
You likely know the rest of the story — replays on Cooper Kupp’s extended arms were inconclusive, the instructions are to let it stand, the officials followed their own replay rules for once, and the San Francisco 49ers kneeled out a wacky 32-29 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Yes, wacky even by Seahawks standards.
Seattle needed Jaxon Smith-Njigba to catch that ball. But if they don’t run a clumsy, execution-free run play out of their own end zone with 13 seconds left in the first half, it’s probably not necessary.
Seattle needed a good replay angle that showed first down at the 40. But if Sam Darnold doesn’t throw two pretty atrocious interceptions earlier, it’s probably not necessary.
The Seahawks offense needed to not commit four turnovers, three of them deep in their own end, just like they needed to take better care of the ball in Washington two weeks ago. Against San Fran for the division lead, the Hawks needed the kind of precision, discipline, ball security, pass protection and ingenious playcalling that carried them through the 2025 playoffs all the way to a Super Bowl title. Those are absent.
Unfulfilled needs are spelled “L” in the standings.
The Seahawks most certainly still have the omnivorous defense, which can only be faulted for one drive, those seven minutes Mike Evans spent parading around Lumen Field as Unelected Dictator of Football. The defense is great. They’re not great enough to pick up after their teammates every single week. No unit is.
Because it wasn’t just the giveaways, it was when and where. On your own 18, on your own 11, in your own end zone. The Niners, credit them, killer instinct’d their way to three touchdowns and delivered just enough defense of their own down the stretch to make it stand up.
And, dang it all the way to heck, it’s not like the 49ers made it extra hard to beat them.
Dre Greenlaw lost his head and took an early shower. Deebo Samuel and Jake Cowing exited with injuries after Kyle Juszczyk tore his knee up during the week. Samuel fumbled and Brock Purdy gave one away too. Cowing also forgot how to signal fair catch. Which was pretty cool for everyone not named him.
What a game for Nehemiah Pritchett, by the way. Had the pick later, which also could’ve been a defining moment had the offense turned the giveaway into seven points.
And then, there’s the JSN-shaped elephant in the room. Hell, it’s a whole herd of pachyderms at this point. A) on one ankle he was still great; B) one ankle? shee-it; C) another game Thursday, of course; D) he took a bonus hard hit late and was uncharacteristically slow to get up; E) yikes to that; F) did he drop the late pass in part because of injury; G) well, G) is actually pretty sweet:
Furthermore, Sam Darnold wasn’t good. He had flashes, and he made some plays under heavy pressure that showcased levelheadedness and composure, but both picks were inexcusable and he put another ball in harm’s way over the middle to Rashid Shaheed. He took five sacks.
That about sums it up. Recap? Might as well since we’re both here.
Prey: Any d-lineman who outweighs him
How: Man I love both these clips. In the first one, you get a little presnap motion and H-backer action, if that’s your sort of thing. The second is pure blocking chops, irrelevanting Romello Height right out of the picture. Barner is fast developing into the most complete tight end in Seattle hist… the most complete since Za… gosh.
Action: In what’s become something of a pattern, the Seahawks opponent was granted a free successful run to start the game before being bottled up. CMC’s opening eight-yard gain led nowhere though, because DeMarcus Lawrence’s hands have eyes for the ball and Devon Witherspoon is sticky. Three-and-out it was.
In what’s an actual pattern now, Darnold’s very first pass was picked and returned to the 18. Mike Evans would supply well-deserved punishment with a third down scramble catch inside the three and a textbook goal line slant two inches past Josh Jobe’s outstretched glove. 7-0 San Fran before your first drink was even halfway finished.
Nothing came of the Seahawks’ following series until the punt return, and if Cowing didn’t see Pritchett that’s not anyone’s problem but his. Given new life at the 24, Seattle puttered toward the end zone; Darnold and Kupp connected on their third down timing so that Emanuel Wilson could breeze into the end zone through the biggest hole he’d see all day. Pictured above!
Scoreless defense was played the rest of the quarter by both sides, and the 49ers almost made it a whole quarter without feeling the Wrath of Jaxon. But as the quarter drew to a close, Smith-Njigba got loose behind the defense for 38 big ones. The Seahawks were set up at midfield to start the second, and it kinda felt to summer children like myself, fresh off a Super Bowl parade earlier this very year, that the home team had weathered the worst of the storm.
Q2: 49ers 21, Seahawks 13
Predator: Any 49er who attacked the left side of the Seahawks line.
Prey: Jalen Sundell-Greg Zabel-Charles Cross, at key moments
How: The most egregious example, of course, is the cerebellum-melting play that ended the second quarter.
But Darnold had to escape all day, and there came successive pressures up the left side immediately after the Greenlaw ejection that turned first down just outside the red zone into a long field goal.
Action: Seattle’s fifth possession stalled on the consecutive Shaheed targets, the first over the middle into triple coverage, causing personal offense to announcer Tom Brady, who used “turnover worthy play” so we know he’s done rudimentary analytics. Shaheed actually played some decent cornerback on the throw.
The Seahawks settled for three, played some ferocious defense once the Niners crossed midfield, got the ball back only to see Wilson fumble it on his next carry; Kyle Shanahan went for the kill shot, and it always helps when you have a pro like Trent Williams on the field, who’s been to this environment before, who knows where the defense is headed, and can clear a lane. Watch him signal the left guard to confirm blocking responsibilities. Williams clears out the edge, his teammate seals the inside, and CMC strolls down Royal Brougham for six.
Poor pass protection dooms the next Seattle drive, as mentioned. The Niners are stymied again, as usual when they have a long field, and eventually punt to the four yard line with 13 seconds left, where the hosts will run a play and retreat to the locker room down one. Again, having weathered the storm well enough and getting the ball first to start the second half. Things are ok, considering.
Until the unthinkable happened, one of the most unnecessary fumbles I’ve witnessed in 40 years of watching, so logic-defying that nobody needs to see it again. Instead of 14-13 it’s 21-13 at the break. Which was more points than SF had scored in:
- Week 1 last season
- Week 18 last season
- The divisional playoff in Seattle.
- Week 18 PLUS the divisional playoff
Helps a lot to score 21 points on three drives that total 29 yards, I guess.
Q3: Seahawks 26, 49ers 21
Predator: Nehemiah Pritchett
How: Look below! Pritchett passes the receiver off to this teammate behind him, trusting, and makes a break on the ball, timed exactly for Purdy’s release. You love to sea it.
Action: For the third time in four halves, Darnold’s first pass landed in the evil, grubby hands of the distasteful team. There was no excuse, he just tried to hit a crosser and put the ball there late, with no pace. Professional cornerbacks will swat that trash down like a stocky Manute Bol, or pick it every time. For some fortunate reason, the 49ers would fail to convert it into points when Eddy Pineiro missed left by the width of a entire goalpost. Clarification: not by the width of the post itself (four inches). Our man missed by the width of the entire system (18 and a half feet).
Seattle’s answer drive went run-heavy, gee wonder why, and featured levels of tossing that surpassed even a Frasier theme song. Another Myers threebie was the end result.
Brock Purdy did not have a pleasant first three quarters. Murphy pressured him for the seventh time in nine possessions, Nick Emmawori blew George Kittle up behind the line and finally, all that harassment turned into an ill-advised pass Pritchett could jump. He saw it coming all the way.
Two runs later, it was time to find JSN, no matter how many ankles he had left, right? That man cut like it wasn’t duct taped to the rest of his body, left Fred Warner and Deommodore Lenoir tackling air.
Deebo Samuel fumbled two plays later and the Seahawks turned it into three. Look, neither side could sustain a drive. In fact, and this fact is only half fun, neither offense had exceeded either 100 yards rushing or receiving: SF had 99 and 60 while SEA managed just 88 and 86. And yet, with the Hawks up 26-21 it felt, for the third time in as many periods, that they had weathered the storm. Sigh.
Q4: 49ers 32, Seahawks 29
Predator: Mike Evans, obviously
Prey: Father Time, various midsection bone structures
How: How indeed. Broken ribs in September didn’t faze him, but the vaunted Dark Side defense had effectively him in a chokehold since the opening score. Until drive 11. On which he caught four passes for 75 yards and the day’s biggest score. Plus the two-point conversion. His dominance helped the Niners overcome two major penalties (holding, intentional grounding) and a Ty Okada TFL on their way to the end zone. And having to score twice because Macdonald somehow got noticed for a timeout while Purdy was calling for the snap.
Action: After that eleventh possession consumed a big chunk of the fourth and put the Niners back on top, Darnold’s escapability moved the chains a little, a bootleg found Shaheed with room to run, but a sack ended the threat and Seattle, erm, seattled for a field goal, their fifth of the afternoon.
And for all their dominance, the defense has been porous past the tenth drive of games. I’m gonna get into it with a bonus article. CMC racked up 21 quickies on a couple rushes up the middle. Kaelon Black gashed them for 11 more. Murphy (naturally) put a stop to the bleeding with penetration on third down, leaving fans to spend the two minute warning praying for a Pineiro miss that didn’t materialize.
And for all of JSN’s dominance, including a 35 yard strike to jumpstart the potential winning drive, it’s his drop on third down that made the measurement of Kupp’s effort pivotal. T’would have been a classic Cheathawks comeback had it culminated in the north end zone. Maybe next time. You can’t fleece ‘em all I guess.
Tush push from the four yard line to end the half, you won’t lose yardage and Shanahan won’t call his timeouts. That’s all.
Hard to believe, but Purdy hadn’t been sacked in his first four games. Then, Seahawks pass rushers felled him three times in the first half. It almost mattered, and one more takedown on that excruciating 11th drive just might’ve mattered the most. Still, this Seattle d-line is nigh unstoppable.
This was a defensive shootout! Don’t believe me? The 49ers reached the red zone once on offense. The Seahawks’ two TD drives traveled 47 yards. In a game where both teams have one turnover only, it finishes 17-16 or some such thing.
Byron Murphy is an NFL star in the year 2026. Two more sacks today and three more TFL’s, puts him at three and five respectively. OC’s are game planning for him now. Extend him sooner rather than later please John. It’ll be a long, long time until you get to pick the second defensive player off the board again.
What more can be said about Mike Evans, except, retire dude. Preferably six months ago. In awe of his consistency and drive at age 53 when he could be playing with his grandchildren instead. Not to mention doing tackle football without a ribcage.
God I loved this disengagement and sure-handed tackle by Brandon Pili. What a superb rotational piece he is.
Finally, so good to see Ty Okada back making plays, as he blew up Black in the backfield to turn 1st and 10 into 2nd and 15.
So here s(h)it the Seahawks, 3-2 but with two conference losses and a 1.5-game deficit in the division. Almost a third of the season is gone. If they lose in Denver on Thursday, which they will unless they solve the ball security riddle, their postseason starts to smell like a wild-card entry. Sure, no coach wants to face Seattle in any round of the playoffs, on any field, given their 16-3 road record under Macdonald. Unless they keep looking this beatable.
The Seahawks aren’t very good right now. They required and received extra Drake Maye carelessness at the end to win the opener, pounced on a bad Cardinals team, are responsible for the Commanders’ only win of the season, let the winless Chargers all the way back last week, and didn’t protect the ball well enough to win today, full stop. They’re not good yet, and there’s time to be good, but exceedingly, that time is becoming now.